U.S. patent application number 12/291414 was filed with the patent office on 2009-11-05 for electrical card connector with improved card restriction structure.
This patent application is currently assigned to HON HAI PRECISION IND. CO., LTD.. Invention is credited to Hua Yin, Shi-Gui Zhang, Qi-Jun Zhao.
Application Number | 20090275239 12/291414 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 40018632 |
Filed Date | 2009-11-05 |
United States Patent
Application |
20090275239 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Zhang; Shi-Gui ; et
al. |
November 5, 2009 |
ELECTRICAL CARD CONNECTOR WITH IMPROVED CARD RESTRICTION
STRUCTURE
Abstract
An electrical card connector includes an insulative housing
defining a card receiving space and a plurality of contacts for
mating with a first card and a second card wider than the first
card. A card restriction member is fixed to the insulative housing
and includes a deformable main body upwardly extending into the
card receiving space. The main body includes a pair of raised
portions protruding upwardly beyond a guiding surface thereof with
a depression formed between said pair of raised portions. With
insertion of the first and the second cards into the card receiving
space, the first card is received in the depression and restricted
by the raised portions, and the second card is restricted by the
side walls of the insulative housing for stable guiding
insertion.
Inventors: |
Zhang; Shi-Gui; (Kunshan,
CN) ; Zhao; Qi-Jun; (Kunshan, CN) ; Yin;
Hua; (Kunshan, CN) |
Correspondence
Address: |
WEI TE CHUNG;FOXCONN INTERNATIONAL, INC.
1650 MEMOREX DRIVE
SANTA CLARA
CA
95050
US
|
Assignee: |
HON HAI PRECISION IND. CO.,
LTD.
|
Family ID: |
40018632 |
Appl. No.: |
12/291414 |
Filed: |
November 10, 2008 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
439/630 ;
439/541.5 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H01R 12/7005 20130101;
H01R 27/00 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
439/630 ;
439/541.5 |
International
Class: |
H01R 24/00 20060101
H01R024/00; H01R 13/66 20060101 H01R013/66 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Nov 9, 2007 |
CN |
200720042126.0 |
Claims
1. An electrical card connector for insertion of a first card and a
second card which is wider than the first card, comprising: an
insulative housing defining a front mating face and a card
receiving space recessed from the front mating face for receiving
the first and the second cards; a plurality of contacts with
contact portions extending into the card receiving space for mating
with the first and the second cards; and a card restriction member
fixed to the insulative housing and comprising a deformable main
body upwardly extending into the card receiving space, the main
body comprising an inclined guiding surface and a pair of raised
portions protruding upwardly beyond the guiding surface with a
depression formed between said pair of raised portions, under a
condition that the first card is received in the depression and
restricted by the raised portions with insertion of the first card
into the card receiving space, and the second card abuts against
upper surfaces of the raised portions with insertion of the second
card into the card receiving space.
2. The electrical card connector as claimed in claim 1, wherein the
first card is supported by the guiding surface for being inserted
into the card receiving space, and the second card is located over
the guiding surface with insertion of the second card into the card
receiving space.
3. The electrical card connector as claimed in claim 1, wherein the
second card is a MS card and the first card is a MS Duo card, the
second card being thicker than the first card.
4. The electrical card connector as claimed in claim 1, wherein the
main body is deformable with insertion of the first and the second
cards due to its own elasticity.
5. The electrical card connector as claimed in claim 1, wherein the
insulative housing includes a pair of side walls with the card
receiving space located therebetween, the second card being
restricted by said pair of side walls when the second card is
inserted into the card receiving space.
6. The electrical card connector as claimed in claim 5, wherein the
insulative housing comprises a bottom wall under the card receiving
space, the card restriction member comprising a base integral with
main body, and wherein the base comprises a flat mounting surface
attached to the bottom wall.
7. The electrical card connector as claimed in claim 6, wherein the
base comprises a pair of mounting posts extending downwardly from
the flat mounting surface, the bottom wall defining a pair of holes
to receive said pair of mounting posts.
8. The electrical card connector as claimed in claim 1, wherein the
restriction member defines a plurality of side-by-side slots
extending through the guiding surface, and the plurality of
contacts comprising a plurality of front contacts with front
contact portions selectively extending upwardly through the
slots.
9. The electrical card connector as claimed in claim 8, wherein the
front contacts comprise a plurality of front soldering tails
extending from the front contact portions and further extending
beyond the front mating face of the insulative housing.
10. The electrical card connector as claimed in claim 1, further
comprising a pair of clip contacts disposed on lateral sides of the
contact portions for clipping the first and the second cards.
11. An electrical card connector for insertion of a first card and
a second card which is wider than the first card, comprising: an
insulative housing defining a front mating face and a card
receiving space recessed from the front mating face for receiving
the first and the second cards; a plurality of contacts with
contact portions extending into the card receiving space for mating
with the first and the second cards; a pair of elastic springs each
including a coiled portion and a pair of first and second abutting
portions extending from opposite ends of the coiled portion; and a
rotatable card restriction member including a main body upwardly
extending into the card receiving space and a pair of pivots
extending from lateral sides of the main body to be received
through the coiled portions, the first and the second abutting
portions abutting against the main body and the insulative housing,
respectively; and wherein the main body comprises an inclined
guiding surface and a raised portion protruding upwardly beyond the
guiding surface, under a condition that the first card is
sidewardly restricted by the raised portion with insertion of the
first card into the card receiving space, and the second card abuts
against an upper surface of the raised portion with insertion of
the second card into the card receiving space.
12. The electrical card connector as claimed in claim 11, wherein
the insulative housing includes a pair of side walls with the card
receiving space located therebetween, the second card being
restricted by said pair of side walls when the second card is
inserted into the card receiving space.
13. The electrical card connector as claimed in claim 12, wherein
the first and the second abutting portions abut against the main
body and the side walls, respectively.
14. The electrical card connector as claimed in claim 11, wherein
the main body defines a plurality of side-by-side slots extending
through the guiding surface, and the plurality of contacts
comprising a plurality of front contacts with front contact
portions selectively extending upwardly through the slots.
15. The electrical card connector as claimed in claim 12, wherein
one of the side walls defines a guiding slot communicating with the
card receiving space, the electrical card connector further
comprising a metal spring mounted in the guiding slot and
protruding into the card receiving space, and wherein lateral sides
of the first card are sidewardly restricted by the raised portion
and the metal spring.
16. The electrical card connector as claimed in claim 11, further
comprising a pair of clip contacts disposed on lateral sides of the
contact portions for clipping the first and the second cards.
17. An electrical card connector assembly for use with first and
second cards, comprising: an insulative housing defining a front
mating face and a card receiving space behind the front mating face
for receiving at least first and second cards mutually exclusively;
a plurality of contacts disposed within the housing with contacting
sections extending into the card receiving space; an up-and-down
moveable card restriction member positioned in the card receiving
space adjacent to the front mating face, some of said contacts
located under said card restriction member, said card restriction
member including a main body defining a plurality of juxtaposed
slots in a front-to-back direction and in alignment with the
corresponding ones of said some of the contacts in a vertical
direction; said main body defining an upper abutment face at an
upper level and a lower abutment face at the lower level,
respectively, wherein the upper abutment face supports the first
card during insertion of the first card; the second abutment face
supports the second card during insertion of the second card.
18. The electrical card connector assembly as claimed in claim 17,
wherein said card restriction member defines a stop between the
upper abutment face and the lower abutment face so as to guidably
receive said second card to restrict lateral movement of the second
card thereof.
19. The electrical card connector assembly as claimed in claim 17,
wherein during insertion of one of said first card and said second
card, said card restriction member is either still to hide said
some of the contacts or moveable to expose said some of the
contacts.
20. The electrical card connector assembly as claimed in claim 17,
wherein said card restriction member is moveable via either
deflection or rotation.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to electrical card connectors,
more particularly to electrical card connectors with improved card
restriction structure for restricting and guiding insertion of
corresponding cards.
[0003] 2. Description of Related Art
[0004] Nowadays, memory cards are widely used in electronic
devices. There are many kinds of memory cards such as MMC (Multi
Media) card, SD (Secure Digital) card, xD (xD-Picture) card, MS
(Memory Stick) card and MS (Memory Stick) Duo card. According to
the standard specification, the dimension of the MS card is 50
mm.times.21.5 mm.times.2.8 mm and the dimension of the MS Duo card
is 31 mm.times.20 mm.times.1.6 mm. It is obvious that the MS card
is much wider and thicker than the MS Duo card.
[0005] Electrical card connectors are usually mounted on a PCB of
the electronic devices to establish data transmission between the
memory cards and the electronic devices. It is a common knowledge
to those of ordinary skill in the art to know that both the MS card
and the MS Duo card are compatible to a MS card connector or a
multiple-in-one card connector having MS card contacts disclosed in
U.S. Pat. No. 6,994,574. Such card connectors only defines a wide
slot for guiding insertion of the MS card. However, when the MS Duo
card is inserted along the slot, it may be rock along a
left-to-right direction because the MS Duo card is much narrower
than the MS card. As a results, signal transmission is terribly
affected.
[0006] Hence, an improved electrical card connector with improved
card restriction structure is needed to solve the problem
above.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] An electrical card connector includes an insulative housing
and a plurality of contacts retained in the insulative housing for
mating with a first card and a second card which is wider than the
first card. The insulative housing includes a front mating face and
a card receiving space recessed from the front mating face for
receiving the first and the second cards. The insulative housing
includes a pair of side walls with the receiving space formed
therebetween. Each contacts includes a contact portion extending
into the card receiving space. A card restriction member is fixed
to the insulative housing and includes a deformable main body
upwardly extending into the card receiving space. The main body
includes an inclined guiding surface and a pair of raised portions
protruding upwardly beyond the guiding surface with a depression
formed between said pair of raised portions. The first card is
received in the depression and restricted by the raised portions
when the first card is inserted into the card receiving space. The
second card abuts against upper surfaces of the raised portions and
is restricted by the side walls of the insulative housing when the
second card is inserted into the card receiving space. As a result
that both of the first and the second card can be sidewardly
restricted by corresponding structures for stable insertion.
[0008] The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and
technical advantages of the present invention in order that the
detailed description of the invention that follows may be better
understood. Additional features and advantages of the invention
will be described hereinafter which form the subject of the claims
of the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] For a more complete understanding of the present invention,
and the advantages thereof, reference is now made to the following
descriptions taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings,
in which:
[0010] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an electrical card connector
according to a first embodiment of the present invention;
[0011] FIG. 2 is a part exploded view of the electrical card
connector;
[0012] FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the electrical card connector,
but taken from another aspect;
[0013] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of six kinds of cards which can
be inserted into the electrical card connector;
[0014] FIG. 5 is another perspective view of the cards, but taken
from another aspect;
[0015] FIG. 6 is a top view of the electrical card connector with
the metal shell removed therefrom;
[0016] FIG. 7 is a perspective view of FIG. 6;
[0017] FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the electrical card
connector before full insertion of the xD card;
[0018] FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the electrical card
connector with the metal shell removed therefrom according to a
second embodiment of the present invention;
[0019] FIG. 10 is an exploded view of the electrical card connector
shown in FIG. 9; and
[0020] FIG. 11 is another perspective view of the electrical card
connector of FIG. 9, while taken from another aspect.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0021] In the following description, numerous specific details are
set forth to provide a thorough understanding of the present
invention. However, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art
that the present invention may be practiced without such specific
details. In other instances, well-known circuits have been shown in
block diagram form in order not to obscure the present invention in
unnecessary detail. For the most part, details concerning timing
considerations and the like have been omitted inasmuch as such
details are not necessary to obtain a complete understanding of the
present invention and are within the skills of persons of ordinary
skill in the relevant art.
[0022] Referring to FIGS. 1-8, an electrical card connector 100 for
being mounted on a PCB (not shown) can be used for insertion of
many kinds of cards 8 such as xD card 81, SD card 82, MMC card 83,
MMCplus card 84, MS card 85 and MS Duo card 86, as best shown in
FIGS. 5 and 6. It is a common knowledge that the MS card 85 is
wider, thicker and longer than the MS Duo card 86. In order to
simplify description hereinafter, the MS Duo card 86 is also named
the first card 85, and the MS card 85 is named the second card 85.
All the cards 8 include flat contact pads 80 for electrically
mating with the electrical card connector 100. The electrical card
connector 100 includes an insulative housing 2, a plurality of
contacts for mating with contact pads 80 of the cards 8, a metal
shell 3 covering the insulative housing 2 and a switch contact
group 5. The contacts are divided into a first contact group 41, a
second contact group 42, a third contact group 43 and a fourth
contact group 44 arranged along the card insertion direction as
shown FIG. 2.
[0023] The insulative housing 2 includes a rear wall 26, a pair of
side walls 27, 28 extending forwardly from lateral sides of the
rear wall 26 and a bottom wall 203 connecting the rear wall 26 and
the pair of side walls 27, 28. The insulative housing 2 further
includes a front mating face 25 opposite to the rear wall 26 with a
card receiving space 20 recessed from the mating face 25 and
extending backwardly. The receiving space 20 is located between the
side walls 27, 28. Each side wall 27, 28 defines a guiding slot 201
communicating with the receiving space 20 for receiving the cards
8. The contacts include a plurality of contact portions protruding
into the receiving space 20 for mating with the cards 8. The rear
wall 26 defines a plurality of first passageways 21 for receiving
the first contact group 41. The bottom wall 203 defines a plurality
of second passageways 22, third passageways 23 and fourth
passageways 24 positioned along a rear-to-front direction in turn
for receiving the second, third and fourth contact groups 42, 43,
44, respectively. A plurality of protrusions 204 are located
forward the first contact group 41 and further upwardly extend into
the receiving space 20 for preventing another card from being
inserted.
[0024] The fourth contact group 44 includes a plurality of front
contacts arranged adjacent to the mating face 25. Each front
contact includes a front contact portions 441 cantileveredly
extending into the receiving space 20 and a front soldering tail
442 extending from the front contact portion and further extending
beyond the mating face 25 of the insulative housing 2.
[0025] Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, in order to firmly retain the
cards 8 in the receiving space 20, the card connector 100 further
includes a spring member 6 which further includes a pair of first
and second clip contacts 60, 61. The first clip contact 60 includes
a L-shaped first retaining portion 600 and a first spring portion
601 extending forwardly from the first retaining portion 600. The
second clip contact 61 includes a L-shaped second retaining portion
610 and a second spring portion 611 extending forwardly from the
second retaining portion 610. The first and the second spring
portions 601, 611 are located on lateral sides of the first contact
group 41 for abutting against the first and the second cards 86,
85.
[0026] Referring to FIGS. 2, 3 and 6, the switch contact group 5
includes a first switch contact 50, a second switch contact 51 and
a third switch contact 52 jointly for detecting insertion of the
cards 8. The switch contact group 5 is widely used in card
connector, so detailed description is omitted hereinafter.
[0027] Referring to FIGS. 2, 3 and 6-9, in order to limit both the
first and the second cards 86, 85 when such cards are inserted into
the receiving space 20, the card connector 100 further includes a
card restriction member 7. According to the first embodiment of the
present invention, the restriction member 7 includes a base 71
fixed to the bottom wall 203 of the insulative housing 2 and a
deformable main body 70 integrally extending from the base 71. The
base 71 includes a flat mounting surface 711 attached to the bottom
wall 203 and a pair of mounting posts 710 extending downwardly from
the mounting surface 711 to be received in corresponding holes 202
of the bottom wall 203. The main body 70 is made from elastic
material and is deformable with respect to the base 71 due to its
own elasticity. The main body 70 upwardly extends into the
receiving space 20 and includes an upward inclined guiding surface
73, a pair of raised portions 72 extending upwardly from lateral
sides of the guiding surface 73 and a plurality of side-by-side
slots 700 throughout the guiding surface 73. The front contact
portions 441 selectively extends through the slots 700 duo to
deformation of the main body 70.
[0028] When the first card 86 is inserted into the receiving space
20, the first card 86 is supported by the guiding surface 73 and is
located between a depression formed between the pair of raised
portions 72. The first card 86 is sidewardly restricted by the pair
of raised portions 72, so that the first card 86 can't rock along a
left-to-right direction. When the second card 85 is inserted into
the receiving space 20, the bottom surface of the second card 85
abuts against upper surfaces 721 (shown in FIG. 3) of the raised
portions 72. The lateral sides of the second card 85 are restricted
by the side walls 27, 28 of the insulative housing 2 so that the
second card 85 can't rock along the left-to-right direction as
well. The main body 70 is pressed by the first or the second cards
86, 85 and is deformable along a vertical direction. The first and
the second cards 86, 85 can be clipped by the first and the second
spring portions 601, 611 for firmly retention.
[0029] When the xD card 81 is inserted along the guiding slots 201
and into the receiving space 20, the bottom surface of xD card 81
is supported by the upper surfaces 721 of the raised portions 72
and downwardly presses the main body 70. As a result that the front
contact portions 441 upwardly extend through the slots 700 to
mechanically mate with the contact pads 81 of the xD card 81.
[0030] The metal shell 3 includes a rectangular top wall 30 and a
pair of sides walls 31 extending downwardly from lateral sides of
the top wall 30. Each side wall 31 defines a plurality of
positioning holes 310 for receiving positioning protrusions 29 of
the insulative housing 2 so that the metal shell 3 can be firmly
attached to the sidewalls 27, 28 of the insulative housing 2.
[0031] Referring to FIGS. 9-11, a card connector 100' according to
another embodiment of the present invention is disclosed. The card
connector 100' is similar to the card connector 100 of the first
embodiment. The difference between them is the structure of the
card restriction member 7, 7'. The card restriction member 7' is
rotatablely mounted on the insulative housing 2' and includes a
mounting portion 71' and a main body 70' upwardly extending into
the card receiving space 20'. The main body 70' includes a raised
portion 72' protruding upwardly beyond the inclined guiding surface
73'. The raised portion 72' is disposed on a lateral side of the
main body 70' and located adjacent to the first side wall 27'. A
metal spring 92' is mounted in the corresponding guiding slot 201'
of the second side wall 28' and further extending into the
receiving space 20'. The raised portion 72' and the spring 92' are
adapted for jointly restricting lateral sides of the first card 86.
The mounting portion 71' further includes a pair of pivots 74'
opposite extending from lateral sides of the mounting portion 71'.
The side walls 27', 28' of the insulative housing 2' each includes
a slit 91' extending through the front mating face 25' to receive
the pivots 74'. The card connector 100' further includes a pair of
elastic springs 93' each including a coiled portion 930' and a pair
of first and second abutting portions 931', 932' extending from
opposite ends of the coiled portion 930'. In assembly, the pivots
74' are received in the coiled portions 930' with the first and the
second abutting portions 931', 932' resisting the main body 70' and
the side walls 27', 28, respectively, in order to provide
reasonable elasticity. The main body 70' defines a plurality of
side-by-side slots 700' extending through the guiding surface 73'.
A plurality of front contacts 44' are mounted adjacent to the
mating face 25' and located under the main body 70' before
insertion of the corresponding cards. Each front contact 44'
includes a cantilevered front contact portion 441' selectively
extending upwardly through the slots 700' and a front soldering
tail 442' extending from the front contact portion 441' and further
extending beyond the mating face 25' of the insulative housing
2'.
[0032] Similar to the first embodiment, when the first card 86 is
inserted into the receiving space 20', it is sidewardly restricted
by the raised portion 72' and the spring 92' so that the first card
86 can't rock along a left-to-right direction. When the second card
85 is inserted into the receiving space 20', the bottom surface of
the second card 85 abuts against an upper surface 721' (shown in
FIG. 10) of the raised portion 72'. The lateral sides of the second
card 85 are restricted by the side walls 27', 28' of the insulative
housing 2' so that the second card 85 can't rock along the
left-to-right direction as well.
[0033] It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous
characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been
set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of
the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is
illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in
matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the
principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the
broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are
expressed. For example, the tongue portion is extended in its
length or is arranged on a reverse side thereof opposite to the
supporting side with other contacts but still holding the contacts
with an arrangement indicated by the broad general meaning of the
terms in which the appended claims are expressed.
* * * * *